When Tom Brady’s tenure with the New England Patriots came to an end in 2019, he reportedly told his former teammate Wes Welker that he wanted to retire with the San Francisco 49ers.
Per NBC Sports, the new details about Brady’s brief free agency period come from ESPN reporter Seth Wickersham’s new book, It’s Better to Be Feared: The New England Patriots Dynasty and the Pursuit of Greatness. We already knew that before Brady signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in March 2020, the 49ers held meetings to discuss the possibility of signing Brady, but ultimately decided against the move. If they did, however, pursue Brady, it appears as though he would have been on board.
Following the 49ers’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at last year’s Super Bowl, Brady reportedly told Welker—the current 49ers wide receiver coach who previously played with Brady at the Patriots—that he was up for finishing his career with the 49ers if the team was interested. Per Wickersham, Brady had a list of 20 or so things he would want from his new team, most notably a two-year contract worth $50 million.
He said if the 49ers were gunning for him, there would be “no free-agency tour, no bidding war, full stop; he would end his career where his love of football began, in scarlet and gold, allowing his parents to drive to (his) games for the first time since the 1990s.” Sources indicate that the team was aware he was game, but remained skeptical. Brady had previously said that the 49ers were his favorite team when he was growing up.
In other details via NBC Sports, Wickersham said that Tom Brady was essentially fed-up of Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. “Bill is so negative, I don’t want to play for Bill anymore,” Wickersham quoted Brady as saying during a recent appearance on NBC Sports Boston.
And as luck would have it, Brady and the Bucs visit Bill Belichick and the Patriots this Sunday. Talk about perfect timing.
